Lopez Obrador, Kushner meet to evaluate Mexico-US relations
Mexico City — Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador met earlier this week with Jared Kushner , the adviser and son-in-law to US President Donald Trump , to evaluate the bilateral relationship after the Mexican leader’s first 100 days in office.
“At the invitation of the Mexican government, the senior adviser of the president of the United States, Jared Kushner, met on Tuesday with President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador,†the Mexican President’s Office said on Wednesday in a statement.
The meeting took place in Mexico City.
Accompanying the leftist Mexican leader and the White House adviser were Mexico’s foreign secretary, Marcelo Ebrard, and the charge d’affaires at the US Embassy in Mexico, John Creamer.
The meeting served “to evaluate the state of bilateral relations after the first 100 days of the new Mexican administration,†a milestone reached on March 10.
At the meeting, the officials discussed issues of mutual interest, including the ratification of the new trade treaty among Mexico, the US and Canada, the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), development and migration in the region.
“The conversation took place in an atmosphere of mutual respect and cooperation,†the communique said.
At his Wednesday morning press conference at the National Palace, Lopez Obrador provided more details about the meeting, calling it one that had been held “on good terms†and included outlining the “possible signing of a commitment of understanding†to push forward with bilateral cooperation.
The aim of such a commitment would be to “make investments, create jobs and push the economic growth not only of Mexico, but also in Central American countries,†said Lopez Obrador.
The Mexican leader reiterated that Mexico enjoys a “good relationship†with the Trump administration, this despite the US leader’s longstanding anti-Mexican rhetoric.
Last December, the two countries reached several investment agreements for southern Mexico and Central America valued at more than $10 billion.
Lopez Obrador did not rule out that new agreements adding more resources to that effort could be signed.
Regarding the USMCA, the Mexican leader said that it is “good†for both nations and confirmed that there are “pending†issues that must be reviewed in terms of bilateral trade, including the imposition of tariffs on steel by the US.
He said that his meeting with Kushner, which ended at about 11 pm on Tuesday, was held at the home of a “mutual†friend.
Lopez Obrador said that he will travel to the US and to other countries when “specific agreements†have been reached and can be signed to attract investment and jobs to Mexico.
“I’m not going to be traveling with no reason†or engaging in “political tourism,†he said.
After losing the 2006 and 2012 Mexican presidential elections amid allegations of election fraud, Lopez Obrador finally managed to win the July 1, 2018, vote with the support of 53 percent of the voting public, thus becoming Mexico’s first leftist president in decades.
